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AEquitas: Prosecutors’ Resource on Violence Against Women

AEquitas: The Prosecutors’ Resource on Violence Against Women is an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of justice in sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and human trafficking cases by developing, evaluating, and refining prosecution practices that increase victim safety and offender accountability.

The following projects can be worked on over the winter break:

Transcript Review and Analysis

AEquitas is looking for a student to work from our offices, located at Metro Center, on a transcript review project. This project will require reading through multiple transcripts related to a criminal sexual assault,, organizing the various testimonies and evidence presented, and analyzing the prosecution and defense strategies to identify gaps, promising practices, and other insights. The time commitment for this project is approximately 20 hours. The deadline is flexible and can be set with the supervisor.

The prosecution of sexual abuse in confinement has presented multiple challenges to investigators and prosecutors, as well as those who work on policy issues related to prisons and other confinement facilities. AEquitas is looking for 1-3 students to create a compilation of case law related to sexual abuse in confinement by researching case law in the fifty states, U.S. territories, U.S. military (UCMJ), and federal jurisdictions. The compilation will also include a section on case law related to the use of expert testimony on confinement facilities and/or confinement culture in any criminal case (i.e., not just criminal cases involving sexual abuse in confinement).

The total time commitment for this project is approximately 50 hours. The deadline is flexible and can be set with the supervisor.

Analysis of the Intersection of Business and Human Trafficking

AEquitas is looking for students to develop a resource on existing laws, criminal and civil, regarding business standards and restrictions relevant to the crime of human trafficking. Every year, there are countless victims of human trafficking in the United States. Many of those victims are trafficked as part of "legitimate" businesses involving the restaurant, agriculture, cleaning, and cosmetology industries, among others. Increasingly, individuals are trying to determine how they can prevent human trafficking within their own industries through requirements and penalties related to business licensing and certification. For example, do any state cosmetology boards require an inspection to certify that a business is trafficking-free prior to issuance of an annual certification? Are there non-law enforcement agencies to which persons who suspect trafficking in, e.g., a nail salon, can report?

This compilation will seek to answer those questions and more by researching and analyzing statutes and boards related to the above.

The student(s) will research state, U.S. territorial, local city ordinance, federal, and military laws to determine:• Any criminal legislation that allows a business or absentee owner to be charged with human trafficking and/or to have property forfeited if trafficking occurs on the premises (regardless of knowledge)• Civil or other statutes that provide for penalties, fines, or other punishment if a business or owner involves human trafficking• Jurisdictions that have boards of cosmetology (or other/similar) that license or certify nail salons, massage parlors, etc — and, if they do have such boards, if the boards themselves have any anti-trafficking provisions• Any other laws or requirements related to preventing or reporting human trafficking in or at a business/industry

If any of the above do not mention human trafficking specifically, do they mention criminal activity in general?

We are looking for 2-3 students to work on this project for approximately 20 hours of time each. The deadline can be determined between student and supervisor. Students can work remotely on this project.